Patterns and Implications of Naturally Acquired Immune Responses to Environmental and Tuberculous Mycobacterial Antigens in Northern Malawi

• Published in: The Journal of infectious diseases Vol. 184; no. 3; pp. 322 - 329
• Main Authors: Black, Gillian F. , Dockrell, Hazel M. , Crampin, Amelia C. , Floyd, Sian , Weir, Rosemary E. , Bliss, Lyn , Sichali, Lifted , Mwaungulu, Lorren , Kanyongoloka, Huxley , Ngwira, Bagrey , Warndorff, David K. , Fine, Paul E. M.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Chicago, IL University of Chicago Press 01.08.2001; Oxford University Press
• Subjects: Antigens; Antigens, Bacterial - immunology; Bacillus calmette guerin vaccine; Biological and medical sciences; Blood; Cross Reactions; Cutaneous tuberculosis; Epidemiology; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Humans; Immunity, Innate; Interferon-gamma - biosynthesis; Interferon-gamma - blood; Leprosy; Major Articles; Malawi; Microbiology; Mycobacterium - classification; Mycobacterium - immunology; Mycobacterium avium; Mycobacterium avium - classification; Mycobacterium avium - immunology; Mycobacterium avium Complex - classification; Mycobacterium avium Complex - immunology; Mycobacterium bovis; Mycobacterium bovis - classification; Mycobacterium bovis - immunology; Mycobacterium Infections - immunology; Mycobacterium intracellulare; Mycobacterium scrofulaceum; Mycobacterium tuberculosis; Nontuberculous Mycobacteria - classification; Nontuberculous Mycobacteria - immunology; Skin Tests; Statistics, Nonparametric; Tuberculin; Tuberculin Test; Tuberculosis - epidemiology; Tuberculosis vaccine; Tuberculosis, Pulmonary - epidemiology; Tuberculosis, Pulmonary - immunology; Vaccination; Vaccines, antisera, therapeutical immunoglobulins and monoclonal antibodies; Virology; Malawi; Africa; Human; Lung disease; Prevalence; Immune response; Mycobacterium bovis; Respiratory disease; Lung; Vaccination; Mycobacterial infection; Epidemiology; Protein; Infection; Antigen; Whole blood; Tuberculosis; Mycobacteriales; Bacteriosis; Mycobacteriaceae; Bacteria; Adult; Actinomycetes; New species; Gamma interferon
• ISSN: 0022-1899; 1537-6613
• DOI: 10.1086/322042

Interferon (IFN)-γ responsiveness to 12 purified protein derivative (PPD) and new tuberculin antigens from 9 species of mycobacteria was assessed, using a whole blood assay, in 616 young adults living in northern Malawi, where Mycobacterium bovis bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccination provides no protection against pulmonary tuberculosis. The prevalence of IFN-γ responsiveness was highest for PPDs of M. avium, M. intracellulare, and M. scrofulaceum (the MAIS complex). Correlations between responsiveness paralleled genetic relatedness of the mycobacterial species. A randomized, controlled trial was carried out, to assess the increase in IFN-γ responsiveness to M. tuberculosis PPD that can be attributed to M. bovis BCG vaccination. The BCG-attributable increase in IFN-γ response to M. tuberculosis PPD was greater for individuals with low initial responsiveness to MAIS antigens than for those with high initial responsiveness. Although not statistically significant, the trend is consistent with the hypothesis that prior exposure to environmental mycobacteria interferes with immune responses to BCG vaccination.